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Evening Notes: Swayman, Kuznetsov, Penguins

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Former Boston Bruins goaltender and current NESN analyst Andrew Raycroft joined The Skate Pod to discuss the contract situation of Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman. Raycroft told the panel that Bruins fans shouldn’t be concerned at this juncture, and he wouldn’t be concerned about the contract negotiations until September.

Boston has been busy this summer dealing goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators and signing unrestricted free agents Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm to long-term deals. Despite the lucrative deals they’ve dished out, the Bruins remain in a good position to re-sign Swayman as they sit $8.6MM under the salary cap limit (as per PuckPedia) and could easily fit an $8MM cap hit in for their newly appointed starting goaltender.

In other evening notes:

  • Former Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes center Evgeny Kuznetsov told MatchTV that he struggled so badly during this past season that he didn’t want his family to watch him play. The 32-year-old was once a perennial point-per-game player but fell to just eight goals and 16 assists in 63 games this past season and wasn’t nearly as effective as he once was. Kuznetsov and the Hurricanes terminated the final year of his NHL contract in mid-July so that he could return to Russia where he signed a four-year deal with SKA of the KHL.
  • Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff covered the Pittsburgh Penguins in his NHL Prospect Pool Breakdown and believes that Brayden Yager is far and away the Penguins’ best prospect and likely the only prospect they have who could play in their top six eventually. The Penguins have had a difficult time developing scoring forwards over the past decade and it has been a drain on the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin who have had to carry the offensive load for much of the past ten years. Ellis notes that Yager is still a few years away from developing into a top-six forward which makes it entirely possible that the 19-year-old center will never play with the veteran stars.

Blue Jackets Coaching Notes: Dorsett, Recchi, McCarthy, Boll

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The rippling effects of the regime change in Columbus are beginning to be felt by multiple members of the organization’s coaching staff. Although no positions have been filled up to this point, we know of a few coaches who will not be on the bench with Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets next season.

Covering all of the departures, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic begins with Derek Dorsett who had been serving as the team’s development coach for the last few years. As his only professional coaching role to date, Dorsett became a development coach with the Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters for the 2021-22 season. Portzline outlines that Dorsett’s departure may not have as much to do with the head coaching change as it has to do with not having the necessary time to commit to the coaching role as a new father.

Dorsett may eventually return to the Blue Jackets organization as he lives in the Columbus area with his family. He made his professional debut with the Blue Jackets in the 2008-09 season and scored 27 goals and 65 points in 280 regular season games as a tough-nosed winger.

Other coaching notes:

  • The only assistant coach officially terminated by Columbus’ brass according to Portzline was Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi. The long-time NHL forward began his coaching career relatively soon after his lengthy playing career ended after the 2010-11 season. Recchi began work as a development coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014-15 before transitioning to the team’s assistant coach in 2017-18. After a brief two-year stint as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils, Recchi’s only year as an assistant coach with the Blue Jackets will be last season.
  • As reported a few days ago, Portzline confirms that assistant coach Jared Boll will be back with the organization next year. Additionally, Portzline notes that assistant coach Steve McCarthy will be back on the bench next season leaving Columbus with only one assistant coach vacancy heading into the 2024-25 campaign. The vacancies must get filled relatively quickly though as the league is quickly approaching the start of training camp in late September.

Poll: Which Team Will Acquire Patrik Laine?

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It’s been nearly two weeks since Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine exited the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Laine and the Blue Jackets had previously agreed to look for a trade this offseason once he was released from the program, but Laine’s trade market appears to be stagnant. With an $8.7MM salary for the next two years, and with general manager Don Waddell not looking to retain 50% of his salary, only a handful of teams would be able to acquire him this summer.

It was only yesterday that Joe Smith and Michael Russo of The Athletic broached the possibility of the Minnesota Wild acquiring Laine before the start of next season. The Finnish sniper fills a serious need on the wing for Minnesota but their current salary cap table may put too many problems in their way. The Wild organization has approximately $750K in salary according to PuckPedia and may have to part with too much to put Laine into the mix.

One team that has both financial space and a need for Laine is the Montreal Canadiens. The team’s first line should be set in stone after a strong 2023-24 season but Laine could give the team a serious offensive boost on the second line. The Canadiens finished 26th in the league in goals per game with 2.83 during the 2023-24 season and Laine’s 0.425 GF/G average throughout his career would certainly be enticing. However, with Kirby Dach expected to fully bounce back from a lost season after tearing his ACL and MCL last year, Montreal may be content with plugging him back into the team’s second line.

The Anaheim Ducks have already acknowledged they will lean more heavily on their youngsters for offensive production next season. The organization can count Cutter Gauthier, Leo Carlsson, Mason McTavish, and Trevor Zegras in their top six but could still use a consistent goal-scoring threat. After failing to capitalize on Frank Vatrano’s 37-goal season via the trade market last year, the Ducks could move him to the Blue Jackets in a one-for-one swap. There’s plenty of indication that Vatrano will regress to the mean this year and Laine would give them one more year of control.

Other organizations could use Laine and theoretically fit him into the lineup (especially if Columbus retains his salary) but the clock is beginning to run out on a possible deal. The Blue Jackets have about a month and a half before training camp starts to move Laine to an interested party. Do you think it will be one of these teams or another one entirely?

Carter Yakemchuk Signs Entry-Level Deal With Senators

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The Senators have signed top 2024 draft choice Carter Yakemchuk to his three-year entry-level contract, the team announced today. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Yakemchuk, 18, was the second defenseman taken in the class, going to Ottawa at No. 7 after the Blackhawks selected Artyom Levshunov second overall. Given his early birthday (Sep. 29), Yakemchuk has already accumulated three seasons of junior hockey with the Western Hockey League’s Calgary Hitmen. Last season, he was named to the WHL’s Central Division First All-Star Team and led all defensemen in goals with 30. He added 41 assists for 71 points in 66 games, adding a whopping 120 PIMs and a -6 rating.

Seventh overall was a tad earlier than most expected the 6’3″, 203-lb right-shot defender to go. He checked in at No. 13 in TSN’s Bob McKenzie’s season-end polling of NHL scouts and was the sixth defenseman in his composite rankings. He went ahead of Zeev Buium (Wild, No. 12), Sam Dickinson (Sharks, No. 11), Zayne Parekh (Flames, No. 9), and Anton Silayev (Devils, No. 10), all of whom were consensus top-10 picks heading into draft day.

Yakemchuk will be a name to watch in training camp, but it’s likely that the Sens return him to the Hitmen for his final season of junior hockey. Doing so would slide the beginning of his ELC to 2025-26. Since he’s a 2005-born player, Yakemchuk will be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment the season after, whereas most Canadian Hockey League players have to return to their junior team for two seasons following their draft-eligible campaign. Regardless, he’ll be an RFA upon expiry.

West Notes: Desharnais, Rossi, Rehkopf

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The Canucks may slot in UFA signing Vincent Desharnais on their top defense pairing alongside Quinn Hughes in spot duty next season, opines Thomas Drance of The Athletic.

Doing so would allow Filip Hronek, who spent all of last season stapled to Hughes and is fresh off signing an eight-year, $58MM deal, to drive his own pairing against easier competition. That’s something head coach Rick Tocchet said he’d consider doing, telling Drance that Hronek can “tend to defer too much” at times when playing with Hughes and that he’d “like to see him be more forceful with his decisions.”

It would be a big jump for Desharnais, though. The 28-year-old only established himself as a full-time NHLer last year with the Oilers. He was a bottom-pairing presence for Edmonton, averaging 15:44 per game through 78 contests. He did post 11 points and a +3 rating with average possession metrics, but playing alongside Hughes with any consistency would be a tough task for a player who’s seen most of his professional career unfold in the AHL to date. Desharnais inked a two-year, $4MM contract with Vancouver when free agency opened on July 1.

There’s more out of the Western Conference:

  • Austria will be without perhaps its best player in this summer’s qualifying tournament for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Wild forward Marco Rossi is skipping the event to begin training in Minnesota later this month, notes Michael Russo of The Athletic. Rossi, 22, is coming off a career-high 21 goals and 40 points last season while playing in all 82 games and could open the season as the Wild’s first-line center alongside Kirill Kaprizov. The 2020 ninth-overall pick had one assist in three games during the 2022 qualifiers with Austria failing to earn one of the three available spots. This year, they’ll be competing for one of the open spots in a round-robin tournament with Hungary, Kazakhstan and Slovakia.
  • Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf has been traded in the Ontario Hockey League, heading from the Kitchener Rangers to the Brampton Steelheads, sources tell Ryan Kennedy of The Hockey News. Rehkopf, 19, has spent the last three seasons in Kitchener, where the 6’2″ forward led the team in scoring last season with 95 points (52 goals, 43 assists) in 60 games. The 2023 second-round pick will be returned to Brampton out of training camp this fall, but a strong post-draft season puts him in line to compete for a roster spot in Seattle in next year’s training camp.

Submit Your Questions For A Salary Cap/Transactions FAQ

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Aug. 6: We’re taking more questions! The first installment of these FAQs was published Monday, which you can read here.

Have any burning questions about the NHL’s CBA, salary cap, or any sort of transaction? Ask away.

Our friends over at Hoops Rumors have a spectacular “Glossary” series that dives into all the nitty-gritty terms, rules and regulations surrounding CBA provisions that govern the NBA’s transactions and salary cap. We at PHR would like to do the same for hockey, offering explanations and clearing up confusion on some perhaps oft-misunderstood or complex/mysterious topics.

If you have queries about anything that falls under that umbrella, whether it be roster limits, contract clauses or LTIR, toss them in the comment section or contact us directly. PHR’s Josh Erickson will go through and answer as many as possible in a series of mailbag-style pieces, which will be accessible at any time on the right sidebar under “Pro Hockey Rumors Features.”

Snapshots: Draisaitl, Zegras, Lee, Preseason Schedule

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Leon Draisaitl’s recent eligibility to sign a contract extension will be one of the bigger storylines late in the offseason, but it doesn’t appear there’s much of anything new to report since Stan Bowman took over the reins as general manager a couple of weeks ago, the executive said to NHL.com’s Derek Van Diest.

“I had a good conversation (with Draisaitl’s agent Mike Liut) and we’re starting things off and the timing on that will be what it will be,” Bowman said. “I don’t have an update of where it’s going to be or the timing on that, but there is nothing negative to report, certainly.”

The initial contact between Bowman and Draisaitl’s camp reignites extension talks that began back in June with acting GM Jeff Jackson. Draisaitl’s European-based agent, Jiri Poner, told a German news outlet early last month that the ball was in Edmonton’s court to make a competitive offer. Things seem on a slow but positive track for the German superstar, who’s coming off a 41-goal, 106-point campaign in 2023-24.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Ducks forward Trevor Zegras has continued to draw trade interest from around the league this summer, and some speculated a return to his New York home could be in the cards. That doesn’t appear to be the case, though, as Arthur Staple of The Athletic said in a recent mailbag that he doesn’t “think the Rangers have ever been interested in Zegras, much as the local kid would love to be a Ranger.”
  • There have been questions about Islanders captain Anders Lee’s future with the club after a trying campaign that saw him limited to 20 goals and 37 points in 81 games, his lowest offensive output in a healthy season since 2015-16. But it appears the 34-year-old is here to stay for the final two years of his contract at a $7MM cap hit, GM Lou Lamoriello told Staple. “You’re talking about a consummate pro: high integrity, high character, team first,” Lamoriello said. “I’d say he was one of our better players in the playoffs. That should answer any questions you might have — how he responded to whatever role he was asked to play.”
  • We’re just 46 days away from NHL hockey returning to laptops, radios and TVs. The league announced its complete composite preseason schedule today, which will kick off on Sep. 21 with a trio of games involving the Penguins and Sabres, the Blues and Stars, and the Wild and Jets. The Utah Hockey Club will take the ice for the first time in preseason action the following day, hosting the Blues for a neutral site game in Des Moines, Iowa. The preseason will run for two weeks, drawing to a close on Oct. 5.

International Notes: Schneider, Richards, Melnick

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An AHL fixture is heading a bit off the beaten path this season. After 13 minor-league seasons and six NHL games, forward Cole Schneider has signed a two-year deal with Norway’s Storhamar, the team announced yesterday.

Schneider, 33, is coming off a tough campaign. The Williamsville, New York native signed on with the independent Chicago Wolves last season and was expected to be one of their top scorers, but he faltered with only 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists) in 56 games. In the two seasons prior, Schneider had served as the captain of the Predators’ affiliate in Milwaukee and put up seasons of 60 and 51 points.

Since making his AHL debut all the way back in 2012, Schneider has totaled 247 goals, 327 assists and 574 points in 776 career games. That puts him inside the top 50 in league history in both goals and appearances. But his NHL call-ups were few and far between, only appearing in a half-dozen contests with the Sabres across the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, recording one assist and a +2 rating.

Schneider heads to a Storhamar team that went 33-3-9 last season and won the Norwegian Eliteserien championship, putting them in the continent-wide Champions Hockey League for 2024-25. He’s a major reinforcement for Storhamar’s first appearance in the continental cup since 2018-19. He joins former Avalanche, Blackhawks and Canadiens winger Andreas Martinsen as Storhamar’s only players with NHL experience under their belt.

More recent international signings:

  • Free agent center Justin Richards is heading overseas for the first time, signing a one-year deal with Germany’s Dusseldorfer EG. The 26-year-old Orlando native spent all of last season in the minors while on a two-way deal with the Sabres and became a Group VI UFA at the end of the year. The son of former Blue Jackets head coach Todd Richards took a step back with AHL Rochester after a career-best campaign with Cleveland the year prior, only contributing 16 points (seven goals, nine assists) in 58 games with a -13 rating. Richards has two assists in three career NHL games with the Blue Jackets and Rangers across the 2020-21 and 2022-23 campaigns.
  • After six years of solid play in the AHL, center Josh Melnick signed a one-year deal with Karpat of the Finnish Liiga today, per a team release. Melnick, 29, had spent the last two seasons with the Chicago Wolves and four years before that in the Stars’ system with Texas. He was signed to an NHL contract by Dallas coming out of Miami Ohio in 2019 but never got a call-up. The 5’10”, 181-lb pivot has 129 points in 300 career AHL games.

Capitals Loan Leon Muggli To EV Zug

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The Capitals have officially loaned 2024 second-round pick Leon Muggli back to Switzerland’s EV Zug for 2024-25, the team announced today. The National League club said last month that they were in discussions to take the 18-year-old defenseman back on loan for this season after he signed his entry-level contract with Washington.

It will be Muggli’s second season with the big club after spending his entire development process in the Zug system, suiting up for their U-15, U-17 and U-20 teams since 2019. Last year, his first professional season, he became a depth fixture on the Zug blue line with 12 points (3 G, 9 A) and a +13 rating in 42 games.

The smooth-skating two-way defender was Washington’s third choice of the 2024 draft class, following winger Terik Parascak at No. 17 and diminutive defenseman Cole Hutson at No. 43. Muggli came off the board at No. 52, a pick the Caps acquired from the Golden Knights in last season’s Anthony Mantha trade.

With the loan, Muggli’s entry-level contract will slide to next season as expected since he won’t see any NHL action. If he plays fewer than 10 NHL games in 2025-26, the deal could slide again to the 2026-27 campaign, meaning he won’t be an RFA for the first time until 2028-29. That likely scenario will result in his cap hit reducing from its initial $940.8K to $875.8K due to signing bonuses being paid out in the 2024-25 and 2025-26 campaigns (contract details via PuckPedia).

Muggli returns to a Zug squad that won back-to-back NL titles in 2021 and 2022 but has been eliminated in the semifinals in two straight years. Their roster is dotted with a few former NHLers, including Gabriel Carlsson, Gregory Hofmann, and Fredrik Olofsson.

PHR Chatter: The Blue Jackets’ Offseason

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The Blue Jackets were one of the most active teams last summer, acquiring Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson to bolster their blue line and drafting Adam Fantilli third overall after a nightmarish 2022-23 season. They also tabbed Mike Babcock to be their next head coach, kicking off months of off-ice instability that contributed to Columbus staying well below the playoff demarcation line with a 66-point campaign in 2023-24.

Before they could improve on the ice, the Blue Jackets had to name the pillars that will lead the team out of its rebuild. They’ve done so now, naming Don Waddell to take over as general manager after Jarmo Kekalainen was canned in February and bringing in Dean Evason to succeed Pascal Vincent as head coach, the latter of whom struggled in the post after unexpectedly taking over for Babcock before the season began.

But unlike last summer, the Jackets were mostly silent on both the trade and UFA markets aside from one name. That’s Sean Monahan, who they signed to a five-year, $27.5MM deal with one goal in mind – reignite Johnny Gaudreau. The two were an elite duo together during their days with the Flames, and in their younger years, helped each other to career-best seasons at the time in 2018-19.

Gaudreau has struggled in Columbus since signing a seven-year, $68.25MM contract in free agency in 2022, producing below expectations with 33 goals and 101 assists for 134 points in 161 games. He was over a point per game in his career before signing with the Jackets. Monahan, meanwhile, is on the upswing after seemingly beating the injury bug. His 26 goals and 59 points split between the Canadiens and Jets last season were his most since his career-high 34 goals and 82 points centering Gaudreau in Calgary five years ago.

Of course, there’s still one major box Waddell still needs to check off. A Patrik Laine trade is more inevitable than ever after the winger exited the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program late last month. But Waddell told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch last week that talks are moving at a snail’s pace, no doubt influenced by Laine’s rich $8.7MM cap hit through the next two seasons. The sniper was a point-per-game player in Columbus as recently as three years ago, but injuries and his stay in the assistance program limited him to just 18 appearances last season.

To round out their roster, Columbus also brought in an old friend in veteran defenseman Jack Johnson to help stabilize their bottom pair. He played in parts of seven seasons with the Jackets, where he was a top-pairing fixture from 2012 to 2018. His 16 points and +15 rating with the Avalanche last season were both his best single-season totals since departing Columbus.

They’ll also likely get the first taste of Denton Mateychuk in the NHL. The 2022 12th-overall pick will be turning pro in the fall after a banner 2023-24 campaign that saw him win a Western Hockey League championship with the Moose Jaw Warriors, leading the playoffs with 19 assists in 20 games en route to being named the postseason MVP. His 75 points (17 G, 58 A) in 52 regular-season games with a +35 rating also earned him the Bill Hunter Trophy for the league’s top defenseman.

But aside from Evason and Monahan, the Jackets look nearly identical to how they finished last season, at least in terms of pieces projected to have a significant impact. Nine of their 10 leading scorers from last season are still rostered, save for Alexandre Texier. He was traded to the Blues in June.

No one is expecting the Blue Jackets to be playoff contenders this year, but it will be an important culture-setting season for the team as they attempt to return to relevancy. Part of that will be a significant bump in the standings, but even a 15-20 point increase from last year wouldn’t bring them within spitting distance of a wild card spot. Still, it would be an important step forward for the Blue Jackets’ young core as they begin to graduate from prospects to full-fledged NHLers.

Tell us what you think. Have the Jackets done enough to at least take a significant step forward in 2024-25? Did they make the right hires to address their coaching and GM vacancies? Head to the comments and share your thoughts on the summer in Columbus.

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